Having problems with VW losing Agro

[Grandorf]

I have a level 33 BE warlock and it seems that my VW can't even hold arrgo on a same level or one level lower mob.

my cast secquence is Curse of Agony Corr imm s/l d/l and about the end of d/l thats when he loses arrgo.

I've tried doing a five count before i start casting but that hasn't helped either

is there a chance I could be standing too close i.e instead of just standing within casting range

[ultimo]

Have you got the latest Taunt from the warlock trainer?
In my personal experience don't use a VW, get your imp out for more life and just eat food every now and then. Don't expect just because you are a warlock that you will never get hit like a hunter

[gothicel]

Originally Posted by Grandorf

I have a level 33 BE warlock and it seems that my VW can't even hold arrgo on a same level or one level lower mob.

my cast secquence is Curse of Agony Corr imm s/l d/l and about the end of d/l thats when he loses arrgo.

I've tried doing a five count before i start casting but that hasn't helped either

is there a chance I could be standing too close i.e instead of just standing within casting range

Unfortunately your VW doesn't have the ability to hold aggro that well...

I'm just simplifying the following a bit so it's not exact. After the first 6 sec your VW generates about 250 threat from his Torment (twice since the start of the fight) plus whatever melee damage he does and you're just about to do around 207 damage from your spells, not include w/e +damage you may have. However after the next second you will be at around 236 damage total, 313 on the 8th sec, 418 on the 9th sec, 448 on the 10th sec, 525 on the 11th sec, and your VW just did his 3rd Torment which gives him around 375 threat plus w/e melee damage he does which is tiny. Typically you are at a casting distance from the mob and from your VW so the mob would turn to you at 130% threat and so as you can see that at 9 second into the fight, you will have generated 167% threat in comparison to your VW and thus the mob turns to you.

EDIT: this is all based on max rank of the spell you listed from level 33 and back... also the Torment threats that I use there is based on rank 3 Torment for your VW trained at level 30.

[Innor]

The vw is best used for tanking a mob with dots for himself.

If you send him to tank and throw SL, Curse of Agony, corr and maybe immo (depends on how much +damage you have). Like this he can just about keep aggroo, at least the levels just after you get the new versions of his taunt spell.

Don't do drain life now!

Find the next target, get max range and start dot'ing up while running and end with a fear. Throw in a lifetap or two if needed.

Send the vw after a 3rd target and cast sl on it.

The first target should be allmost dead now, so drain soul (I supose you have imp. ds).

Dot up the 3rd target, and return focus to target nr 2 and drain life and go drain soul when it's close to death. (should still be feared)

Take down the 3rd target or find a 4th to fear

and so on. You'll end up taking 4 mobs at the same time more or less, not getting hit and ending with full health and mana (if you get the imp drain soul to work).

This of cause requires the targets to be fearable,and if they are to close to each other and aggroo each other, you can expect to get nr 3 (and perhaps nr 4 and 5 ) a little faster.

But dotting up only, and the vw can keep the aggroo

[Pakars]

Hum, when I was leveling around then, I also had threat problems with my VW...

I ended up just dropping Immo and drain from my cast rotation(sometimes SL as well, I had really high +damage) and just reapplying Curse of Agony and Corr, unless I needed the life.
Takes longer(Boooring, too, unless you can fear-kite another mob or two), but at least you don't get hit unless there's a bad resist on Torment.

[Lessic]

Basically the VW is a short use tank if you want him to hold aggro while you apply dots, affliction dots immolate most likely will spike threat and UA tends to as well. Also he's good for holding a mob or two while you solo the other, just dot the mobs the VW tanks with low threat dots. I wouldn't recommend fearing unless the mobs you are dealing with are the only ones in the area, you'd be surprised how far a mob will go when feared. VW is more useful with soul link cause he becomes more a like a sponge to take the damage, more so when you get high enough and can do sl/sl, but his aggro hold is pretty low... the felguard actually seems to do a much better job, he can pretty much handle a mob or two on his own and his taunt ability plus his dps seems to do enough threat to do a half way decent job of aggro hold... of course this is all future note once you get higher in lvls

[oddentity]

Personally when soloing with VW at your level, I wouldn't use DL or SL on my normal kill rotation, only Curse of Agony, Corr, Immo and/or SB depending on how easy the mobs are to kill. Instead, use every 4th or 5th mob as a battery. Send in VW, put up CoE (if/when you have it), SL and DL to "recharge" yourself, then go back to killing as normal. Also, if you have room to DoT and fear a mob, that's also a good time to DL. Feels like less of a grind when you use different strategies to kill things

You should expect the VW to lose aggro at about 50% mob health, hence my suggested use of SB, which should be on it's way to the mob by the time this happens. If you're at max range, the mob should be dead by the time he gets to you, or near enough that your DoT ticks will finish him off.

Points in the Improved Voidwalker talent do help. I'd also recommend a threat meter such as Omen if you don't have one, so you can see how much headroom you have.

[Alcoholiday]

You need to get hit now and again, it helps to build your defence.

[Weblock]

If you want to continue using your VW you might try putting some points in Demonic. Specifically in "Improved Voidwalker" & "Fel Stamina". "Improved Voidwalker" increases you VW's Torment so more threat is generated and "Fel Stamina" gives it a bit more health as your VW will now hold aggro and get hit more. How you fill in the rest to get there is up to you and your tastes. "Improved Health Funnel" will let you top up your bluies health faster and cheaper.

I'm deep into affliction and I like using my VW for a tank during the week when I don't raid. It's great for farming too. I never have to stop and eat or drink. DoT, Life Tap, Drain Life - Loot. Heal the bluie when needed. If my HP and mana get unbalanced I pop a healthstone and keep going.

[Barkle]

There are a couple different ways to deal with the problem. Some deal with it by changing cast sequence. Some deal with it by getting Imp VW talents. Some deal with it by accepting the VW can't hold agro. Others just accept the VW has crappy agro for a tank and don't use it.

I shelved the VW once I got the felpuppy, and never looked back. I sent the felpuppy in, let the mob hit it once or twice (Tainted Blood) and then dotted it up. It would draw agro almost immediately, but it would have full dots on it, and I would drain tank it the rest of the way. If the mob was far enough away, I could sneak in a shadow bolt, but mostly it was drain tanking.